Disabled Motoring UK survey reveals 86 per cent of car parks had disabled bay misuse
New research from Disabled Motoring UK’s Baywatch 2025 survey revealed widespread misuse of disabled parking bays and a severe lack of accessible EV bays across UK supermarkets, with little evidence of improvement since the survey was last held in 2022.
The data revealed disabled bays in 86 per cent of reviewed car parks are being misused, and 75 per cent of the respondents at some point have felt watched/judged or have received negative or intrusive comments for using disabled bays. In addition, only 25 out of 1,007 respondents surveyed a supermarket which provided accessible EV parking.
During mid-July until 15 August 2025, people had the opportunity to complete a 5-minute survey each time they visited supermarkets including Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Morrisons, Aldi, and Lidl. It received 1007 responses. Tesco was surveyed most frequently 32 per cent overall, Morrisons least often but it still received over 100 surveys.
The surveys main intention was to reveal how extensively disabled bays are abused and misused while challenging parking operators to step up and improve their services. The survey also revealed information on other challenges disabled people face and the number of EV charging bays per car park.
For many disabled motorists, finding an available, properly managed and enforced parking bay remains a persistent challenge and disabled people feel at risk of being judged or harassed, particularly those with hidden disabilities, says Disabled Motoring UK (DMUK).
Summarising the need for change, Dr Shani Dhanda, said: “Accessible parking bays aren’t just a nice-to-have – they’re a lifeline. Without them, so many disabled people are shut out of everyday life, whether that’s getting to work, buying food, going to appointments, or just being part of their community.
“When bays are misused or not properly managed or enforced, it sends a really clear message that our access and independence aren’t a priority. Baywatch matters because it’s not just raising awareness – it’s holding people to account and pushing for real change.”
Results from some of the key areas of the survey are revealed below, the survey was split into two sections, a full report can be found on the campaigns page of DMUK’s website.
The survey revealed the vast majority of the car parks reviewed had a minimum of one vehicle misusing the disabled bays.
Only a small portion of all car parks had no disabled bay misuse at 113 car parks out of 860 for accuracy of results. Revealing that 86 per cent of car parks had at least some disabled bay misuse.
The highest recorded misuse was Asda with 97 per cent of its car parks disabled bays being misused. And the lowest recorded misuse was Aldi, which scored best although still relatively high at 77 per cent.
Additionally, the highest percentage of accessible EV bays per car park was Tesco which had the most accessible EV bays, with Morrisons coming second. And car parks with the least EV bays of any type were Asda and Aldi.
The survey found four to nine disabled bays were most common in the supermarkets surveyed, accounting for 30.29 per cent.
79 per cent of respondents stated that they have either had to source parking options elsewhere, and 57 per cent had to cancel their trip to a supermarket entirely.
The survey found 49 per cent have felt watched or judged for using disabled bays, 27 per cent at some point had received negative or intrusive comments, totalling 75 per cent of all respondents.
In regard to inspections, 87 per cent have never had their Blue Badge inspected by a civil enforcement officer, and 93 per cent would be happy for their Blue Badges to be inspected.
Addressing the rights and responsibilities of the use of Blue Badges, 62 per cent find the rights and rules of Blue Badges between councils confusing and not well communicated.
In review of other private car parks, 75 per cent of respondents thought that nearly all car parks did not have enough disabled bays. Hotels and motels scoring the highest frequency. It was also revealed multi-storey car parks & airports scored worst for the experience of accessibility issues, however overall scores were lower on this question.
DMUK’s Marketing & Campaigns Manager, Zoe Rush says: “The results are unfortunately not a surprise to us at Disabled Motoring UK, it is discouraging to see the numbers of misuse so high and to see such little evidence of change over the years, as well as such low numbers of accessible EV bays.
“Considering the Blue Badge system has been around for decades we’d like to see the scheme re-evaluated and ensure it fully serves the people it was designed to support.”
DMUK encourages supermarkets to review the report and reflect on the impact these issues have on their disabled customers, on their own revenue, and on the wider parking sector. Providing signage and parking bays is not enough in terms of providing reasonable adjustments for disabled people. While operators likely comply with the Equality Act 2010 and the Private Parking Code of Practice, the results from the Baywatch survey demonstrates why this is not enough.
Besides appropriate accessible bay management, DMUK also encourages parking operators and supermarkets to consider the Park Access accreditation and the Park Access EV accreditation based on PAS 1899. The accreditation ensures that the accessibility, security, provision and size of disabled bays are truly fit for purpose.
This year’s campaign has been supported by a range of organisations including Disability Rights UK, Transport for All, Independent Living, Phab, Allied Mobility, Motaclarity, Surewise, The Outdoor Guide, Euan’s Guide, AVC, Hidden Disabilities Sunflower & RAC.
